Cosmic Love
by nlizzette7
Summary: "Some things are cosmic. We may be superhuman, but we can't touch galaxies. We're here tethered to the ground, and some things are just written in the stars." / Jacob & Renesmee's story, post-series. / [Rated M for adult content in later chapters]


**A/N: **So, I haven't written for Twilight since I was in high school, and I've never published anything for it, so I hope I do this storyline justice. This is simply a love story between a half-vampire and werewolf. And everything else that comes in between. Please review if it tickles your fancy.

* * *

**Prologue: I'm Not Yours**

_Next thing, we're touching ._

_You look at me it's like you hit me with lightning._

_Oh, everybody's starry eyed,_

_And everybody knows ._

_Oh, everybody's starry eyed, _

_And my body goes._

Renesmee Cullen lived in a world of mysticism. A family of vampires, of curved teeth, beautiful eyes, cold touches on even colder nights. She was a skip in history, a tango between humanity and the undead. Blood ran through her veins, but she craved it still. Such few years on Earth, and she'd already read every edition of Shakespeare, had grown into perfectly slanted cheekbones, hauntingly hazel eyes, and pitch black curls that swept down to her back. She could fly at the flick of her thin wrist, could run miles in under seconds at the turn of her foot. It was magic in its realest form.

And there were other things; wolves that lurked in the woods under twilight, a best friend that would turn into one at night, russet fur shifting into smooth tan skin whenever daylight hit. There were darker ones, bloodthirsty heathens on the other side of the world, a clan called the Volturi, of which she only knew about from crinkled old book pages and whispered snippets of conversation.

Magic was everywhere, beautiful and cruel, dazzling and dangerous.

Renesmee Cullen lived in a world of mysticism.

But in the end, that wasn't what overtook her. It was not the burn of being a hybrid, of drinking blood, of knowing that her mother had died for all of six-hundred seconds while giving birth to her, was then brought to life by her father's bite. It was not that said parents could read minds and block out others. It was not that there were some who wanted her dead, or others who wanted to see her suffer alive.

In the end, it was not the magic.

Renesmee Cullen fell in love, and then everything fell apart.

And that was being human in its realest form.

* * *

Her parents were beautiful.

And yes, so was Nessie. But there was something captivating about Edward and Bella – just in what they _were_, just in how the room illuminated when they walked into it together. Pale hands clasped, steady fingers bearing diamond rings. She watched them from afar, her head tilted back against the leather chaise in her grandparents' living room.

_Grandparents_. As if she could even think to deign Esme and Carlisle with that label. The name was better suited for Charlie, with his graying beard and worn leather shoes – or Renee, with her wrinkled smile and aged catchphrases. She'd always exist between that split. She'd always be torn – confused and hopelessly indefinable.

Ruddy and flawless.

Beautiful and broken.

"What's on your mind, gorgeous?" Jacob Black's breath fanned out over her shoulder, hot and light on her skin. She glanced up at him through long lashes, felt the flush spread under her skin as it came. She'd known this feeling since she was three years old. At first, it was just a faint tingle, an uncontrollable little smile that found its way onto her lips when she was a little kid. He'd hoist her onto his back, she'd hold one of his fingers in all five of her little ones.

"Look at the sky, Ness," Jake would tell her, pulling her up onto his shoulders. "It's beautiful and it's infinite, just like you are, alright?"

And she would nod, she would laugh as he spun her around and around and –

"Ness?"

She stared up at him now, through a veil of her own dark curls. He had on a wife beater beneath a slightly wrinkled dress shirt – his best attempt at being formal for their little family gathering. His hair was trimmed to his shoulders, thanks to her.

Nessie had a habit of spending days in her parents' grand library, picking up little trades and hobbies – like hair styling – that would take anyone else months to even begin. But Nessie was different. Everything about her was _faster_, her vision sharper, her brain more developed, her speech as light as a single tune.

And her heartbeat was constantly in a race against itself.

"Jake," was all that she could come up with. "You're here."

At this, he raised a brow. "Where else would I be, honey?"

Nessie gave a small shrug, Across the room, she caught her father's eye, and Edward winked, his fingers loosely toying with Bella's. The copper-haired man stared at her flushed cheeks and smirked – just as Nessie stuck her tongue out at him. It was hard to remember that her dad was centuries old, especially with how childish he was around her. She adored her mother, Bella, for different reasons, but it was her father who she spent hours at the piano with, skipping rocks down by the lake, humming jingles that became melodies, that became masterpieces.

"So, Daddy," Renesmee had cooed one day, sidling up to him on their piano bench.

"Daddy?" came Edward's amused retort. "Usually, you hoard the amorous nicknames until you want something, love." He cut a glance at her, unruly brown hair curling over his forehead.

Nessie smiled down at her hands. "You read minds."

At this, Edward had grinned, turned the page of his music. "No."

"Dad – "

"No."

"_Edward_," Nessie had sighed, knowing how using his name irritated her father so. She waited until he turned to her to continue, "I know that you've read Jacob's mind. _You _know that I'm old enough now, that I look at Jacob, and it's like my best friend became something _more_."

"Renesmee, darling, take it from a man who fell in love with his own best friend," Edward said, beginning to tap a few notes against the white keys. Light streamed into the room, and his touch left translucent little flutters behind. "I waited centuries to find your mother. And…with Jacob, things will play out how they will. You won't need my help when it happens." Edward glanced at her. "Despite how unhappy I am about that fact."

Nessie thought about this for a moment. "Basically, you know something." She pouted. "And you're being a big jerk."

"Oh, it's like attempting to deal with your stubborn mother all over again," Edward had chuckled. "Renesmee, some things are cosmic. We may be superhuman, but we can't touch galaxies. We're here tethered to the ground, and some things are just written in the stars."

Nessie could _only _think of the stars now, as Jacob pulled her in for a bear hug, wrapped his hands around the white lace dress at her waist and spun her around. He smelled like cut grass and flowers cluttered in dirt. She closed her eyes, pressed trembling hands to his shoulders and gasped.

"Jake," Nessie breathed, staring up at the sloppy grin on his full lips. Heat stirred in her stomach. "Jake," she repeated, shoving at his shoulder. "I'm not a little kid. You can't just swing me around like you used to."

He nudged her shoulder back, glanced around at the crowding room, frowned when he inhaled the spreading scent of toxic ice, of crowding vampires. And then he turned to her with a teasing grin. "With these guns, I'll be swinging you around forever." He smirked. "But no, you're not a little kid anymore." Jacob's eyes trailed over her petite figure, the new swells and curves on her body. She saw his gaze shift for a second, and she hoped she wasn't imagining it. "You're a little _lady_."

"Oh, gross," Nessie giggled, shoving him again. "That's just creepy."

Jacob smiled, grabbed the little pale hand on his shoulder, smoothed one of his big thumbs over her knuckles before dropping it away. "Let's get out of here. It's starting to look like a leech convention – "

"Jake." Nessie rolled her eyes, followed him out to the back of her grandparents' house, where the huge glass doors led into a canvas of trees and brambles. A mischievous smirk touched her lips once they were outside, and Nessie pulled her sandals off, let her toes hit the cold prickle of grass. "What? Scared they'll have a taste for dog meat tonight?"

"Funny, Ness." He tossed his head back. "Just hilarious."

"You're a mongrel, Jacob Black." Her declaration rung out across the empty woods, and she hopped up onto a stray log with the upmost grace, smiled at him as her dress spun out around her long legs. She hopped once, then twice. "If I fall, will you catch me?"

Jacob's expression sobered. "You never fall, Ness."

"But if I did – "

"Of course. In a second," Jacob said. "You're my best friend, Ness. Your life comes before everything else."

Nessie paused on the log, toes poised in the air. "How intense…"

Jacob blinked, drew back, attempted to joke around now. "What's intense are my…classic good looks." He winked. "I know that you can't get enough, Ness. That's why you love to tease me." As he said the words, his shirt blew open from a wild gust of wind, revealed the lines of his shoulders, pushed his hair back behind his ears. And though Nessie _never _fell, she tripped now, gasped as she tilted forward and caught onto nothing.

Until Jacob caught onto her.

She was in his arms now, fingers curling against his chest, her waist cradled into the crook of his elbow. His light brown eyes settled on hers, and Nessie sucked in a sharp breath when his hand came up to cradle the nape of her neck. His palm was rough, his touch gentle.

"Ness, there's something – "

"Jacob, have you ever – "

"_Jake_," a voice called out, heavy footsteps breaking into their little confessional. Nessie pushed away, stood straight as a tan girl with light blonde hair stormed down the fields, a pissed-off expression all over her face. Nessie rolled her eyes, caught Haley Connor's signature red lipstick from a mile away.

"Exactly what this situation needs," Nessie murmured under her breath, raking a hand through her curls. "Haley."

"Come on," Jacob coughed. "Be nice, Ness."

"She's not _my _girlfriend," Nessie corrected. "I don't have to be nice."

"She's not my girlfriend either," Jacob chimed in, finishing just as the blonde hopped over to them. "She's a friend."

Nessie rolled her eyes. God, she'd so hoped that her family would have excluded humans from their little get-together today. But they were so nice, so desperate to integrate the human community with the…more supernatural. And while she loved that she could be around her mother's father, Charlie, who was as human as they came, it also meant that Jacob's cling-on was free to come and go as she pleased. He'd been seeing her for three months, and Haley had been the first girl that had ever hung around Jacob, around the rest of their family.

It had taught Nessie an array of new human emotions – jealousy, wrath, _nausea_.

"Jake," Haley purred, wrapping her arms around Jacob's neck, pressing her fingernails into his skin. Nessie scowled. "I told you not to leave me alone with people I don't know…" The girl's tight ivory dress clung to her curves in a way that Nessie's didn't, and she kissed Jacob's cheek, leaving a red lip print in her wake. Finally, she glanced at the brunette beside them. "Hey…Nessie."

Nessie pasted on a pinched smile. "Hi Haley." _I hope that my family gets hungry and eats you. _"Glad to see you here."

"So glad to be here," Haley remarked, pursing her lips.

Nessie glanced at Jacob, who was suddenly fascinated with the grass on the ground. "Right."

"Renesmee," a light voice called, a yell that sounded too much like a whisper. The three glanced over to the patio doors, where a regal woman, Esme Cullen, was smiling back at her granddaughter. "You have a special guest."

"A special guest?" Nessie and Jacob echoed at the exact same time. Nessie walked over, practically heard Haley pouting behind her before the girl whispered, _Why are you following her? She's just some kid. _But Jacob shrugged her off, much to Nessie's pleasure. She felt him beside her as they nearly raced back to the house.

"You heard your girlfriend," Nessie remarked. "You don't need to follow me, Jacob."

"Oh, so we're back to _Jacob_ now?"

"Sorry, _Jake_," Nessie said, flouncing up the steps. "I can handle this on my own – " Nessie's words cut off when she hit another body. The grand living room was crowded now, vampires from every coven, citizens she recognized from around Forks, a few uncomfortable members of Jacob's wolf pack all circling around. But Nessie only saw the boy in front of her.

He was all olive skin and bright blue eyes, cropped brown hair and a chiseled jaw. They brushed arms for a moment, and she could feel his pulse thumping against his skin in the same way only her heart ever had. Nessie narrowed her eyes, studied his features once more.

She remembered him like one would recall a sliver of their childhood – a picture book lit by the beam of a flashlight after midnight, a ribbon that was always threaded into pretty brown curls. Nessie remembered him, and she thought of relief, thought of an easy exhale after a storm had just raced through. The boy stared back at her, and she heard Jacob suck in a breath.

"Do I know you?" Nessie asked, looked back to see her parents and her aunts staring at the little spectacle, looked beside her to see Jacob's nostrils flare, the veins in his neck darting across his skin in a severe pattern. What was _that _about?

"You know me," the boy said, the proper lilt of his voice seeping into the air. He glanced down before picking her hand up. "You simply don't remember me, Renesmee." He didn't smile, but his lips quivered. "Nahuel, a childhood friend of sorts. I thought that it might be time to pay a visit to my own kind."

"What do you – "

"She goes by Nessie," Jacob cut in. Nessie frowned, glared at her best friend. "And this isn't just your personal walk-in, alright? You can't just show up on our territory – "

"Territory?" Nessie shook her head, shooting Nahuel an apologetic little grin. "God, Jake." She turned back to Nahuel, realized he was still clutching her hand. "I'm sorry. I'm Nessie. But I suppose…you already know that?"

Nahuel's eyes flashed, and then he allowed a small smile at Nessie. "I suppose I do." He looked at Jacob, cocked his head to one side. "And…you're the boyfriend, then?"

Jacob's lips parted, and he was standing so close to Nessie that she could feel his fingers curl against her hip. She waited for him to speak with a bated breath, trailed that gaze down the line of his jaw and to his lips. But the moment was fleeting, for Haley had already managed to totter up the stairs in her ridiculous stilettos and had now planted herself into their conversation.

"No," Nessie suddenly interjected, "he's really not." She glanced at Jacob over her shoulder, met his eyes and could feel a dull explosion – fireworks muffled by heartbreak. And then she forced herself to say, "We should catch up…Nahuel."

And then she left Jacob Black behind to stare after the only girl he would ever love.

And that was a broken heart in its realest form.


End file.
